NBA Rundown: LeBron James and the 'toxicity' around him, Boston Celtics find their range and more

Kevin Durant’s season so far is not short of drama, what with his cold war with teammate Draymond Green. But he seemed to fan the flames of another feud, this time with LeBron James, who may or may not become his teammate next season depending on the cards of fate may unfold.

“So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people,” Durant told Bleacher Report. “He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is b******t attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all — it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball.”

LeBron has sagely refused to wade into the controversy by refusing to comment. But this could just trigger a clash of the biggest egos in the league!

Speaking of LeBron, here’s Reason #421 to not ask Pop a silly question

With just three minutes left in the game, the Mavericks were trailing by eight points. Then Doncic scored a three. Then another three. Then a two. And then another three. This 11-point run from the teenager saw the home team take a lead, which they would go on to hold.

It was a famous come-of-age victory and the franchise from Dallas commemorated it by…

Doncic was not the only one to spontaneously ignite on Sunday. The Boston Celtics trounced the Chicago Bulls by 56 points as the scoreline reached 133-77.

The performance was record-breaking in more ways than one: Celtics’ largest margin of victory ever; Bulls’ largest margin of defeat ever. It is also in the record books as the NBA record for greatest margin of victory by a team on the road — the last, and only, time anyone matched this feat was Seattle, in their win over the Houston Rockets in December 1986!

This, from a team whose offensive credentials had been repeatedly scrutinised over the season. The game was also a persona victory for Daniel Theis, who was handed his first start of the season, and racked up career-high figures in points (22), assists (five) and blocks (four), not to mention notching up a season-high tally of 10 rebounds.

“I’m a little tired. It’s been a while since I’ve played that long. But I feel great,” Theis said after the game.

It was a game in which Parker scored 19 after coming off the bench to help his side, Charlotte Hornets, beat Denver Nuggets 113-107.

Joakim Noah’s back on the court

There was a time earlier this year when Joakim Noah thought his career was over. The New York Knicks has waived him and it was seeming like the end of the road for the veteran.

However, that’s when the Memphis Grizzlies reached out.

And earlier this week, he repaid their faith scoring four points in a 13-minute outing against the Los Angeles Clippers, which they won 96-86.

The game came just over 11 months after his last game in January.

Despite scoring just four points, the former All-Star was emotional at making a return to the league.

On being asked whether he expected to play 13 minutes, he replied: "I don't expect anything anymore. I'm really happy. I've been in this league for a while now. Sometimes you take it for granted because there are so many games. And then you can't play. It just feels good to be here in a locker room after a win, and feel that energy."